BEST ART GALLERY Minneapolis 2004 - Ox-Op - CLOSED

See if you can follow this: Bar owner and ex-Marine starts a punk rock label, puts his logo on a Zippo, sells a bunch, starts putting underground artists' work on Zippos, sells a bunch more. Next, he converts the garage in the back of one of his bars into a gallery and hires the publisher of a hip-hop and graffiti magazine to manage it. That, in a nutshell, is the story of Ox-Op, one of the Twin Cities' least likely fantastic art spaces. Since opening a year ago, the smallish gallery--founded by Tom Hazelmeyer, the godfather of the Grumpy's/Amphetamine Reptile/FlameRite Lighters empire; and run by Wes Winship of Life Sucks Die magazine--has exhibited a veritable who's who of the art and design underground. There have been big names, like the insanely prolific Gary Baseman, Shep "Andre's Got a Posse" Fairey, and former Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh. And there have been shows by underrated local design treasures like CSA and Aesthetic Apparatus. Ox-Op's "Rated XX" exhibit, a group exhibit of all-female work, expands the gallery's horizons a bit while continuing to hew to the apparent mission of displaying outwardly innocent but slightly sinister work. And in lieu of $8 Walker After Hours martinis of the month, at Ox-Op you can find on-tap Grain Belt a few steps away.